Military communications typically require long distance, low latency, and high reliability links. There is interest in leveraging commercial off-the shelf (COTS) wireless technology to bolster military communication capabilities. However, COTS radios are typically designed for home, school, or office use, requiring that either the COTS radios be modified, or specific architectures be designed for particular military applications.
It is important to test a chosen radio or communication architecture for functionality within its intended operational environment. For proof-of-concept and prototyping, purely software-based simulation can be helpful. However, drawbacks to the software-only approach to simulation include high costs, limited hardware-in-the-loop options, and steep learning curves for use of the software. On the other hand, solely using hardware in a near-operational environment is prohibitively expensive for proof-of-concept and development testing.
A need exists for a system that lies within the middle ground between software-only simulation and operational environment hardware testing.